Global Forum’s International Tax Transparency Agenda

The [Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes](http://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency ) met in Tbilisi, Georgia on November 2-4. The annual meeting brought together 220 delegates from 84 jurisdictions and 12 International organisations to further their shared goal of improving tax transparency and achieving a level playing field.

Announced was the completion of the first round of the Forum’s Peer Review Process, with 17 new reports released. The Forum agreed a special fast-track review procedure to enable it to recognise, by mid-2017, progress made and to assess changes being made in various jurisdictions.

Note was taken of the progress being made in the implementation of the standard for automatic exchange of information (AEOI), with 97% of jurisdictions committed to exchanging information in 2017 ready for these exchanges. Also noted was the progress and challenges for those jurisdictions who committed to launching exchanges in 2018. The Forum agreed to implement tighter monitoring of the delivery of key milestones as well as providing support for implementation. It strongly reaffirmed its commitment to help its developing country members to meet the international standards and benefit from improvements in international tax transparency. It encouraged them to move towards implementing the AEOI Standard as soon as practicable.

On the matter of calls for the development of non-cooperative jurisdictions lists, there was constructive discussion to ensure that all members converge around the Global Forum’s transparency standards in their respective transparency initiatives.‎